Sedona, Arizona - Road Trip Phoenix to Sedona

Sunday and a perfect day for a ride to red rock country.  The day started out overcast.  I wasn't driving so I was able to take photos as we drove along.  The scenery always is spellbinding.  We took I17 north from Phoenix.

 Exit and head to Cottonwood for lunch.

 George's Cafe was J's selection. We checked it out, and the full parking lot, and went inside. The food was good and very reasonably priced. Maybe I've been living in the big city for too long.

 Ah, the road to Red Rock State Park (we are on a paved one).  Beautiful.

 Two bird feeders were buzzing with bees and hummingbirds.

 We decided to take the back road to Sedona and take in the view.

 I liked this fence. The homes were nice and had a great view.

 A little rust is always fun to photograph.

 Sedona has some cool art.

 We stopped for coffee at Tlaquepaque and then took the freeway back home. We did stop at Rock Springs to get a few pies (Yum!).

Phoenix, Arizona - Phoenix Zoo

I went to the Phoenix Zoo today and was able to start taking photos at 8AM.  It was nice and cool and many of the animals were out.  Here are a few that I liked.  Of the animals, my favorites are the ones that are captured when they look right at the camera.

 This bird has the word "Egyptian" in his name.  Is he "walking like an Eqyptian"?

 This one looks like he has a fancy vest on, and a tie!

 I was very excited to see the bees buzzing around a flower bed.  I adjusted my camera to try to catch them in flight and lucked out with this one.

 This bird was very cooperative to stand all in the sun and take a drink.  I like the reflection.

A zoo keeper stopped by to feed the water and told the story of this guy.   This tortoise is 21 years old and was born at the Zoo.  (Note to the family to remember the time, perhaps 22 years ago, when we went to the Zoo.  Son stared at the crocodile and GrandPap stared at the tortoises' amour moment.)  I chuckled to myself when she told the story.

I was so excited to have a chance to photograph a hummingbird. I made some quick adjustment (guesses) to the camera and out of about 15 photos that I was able to take before the bird dashed off, I found one that made me very happy.

Fun day at the Zoo. 

Superior, Arizona - Boyce Thompson Arboretum

The Boyce Thompson Arboretum is about an hour drive east of Phoenix.  It has been on my "to visit" list for many years and I took advantage of a trip to Globe this weekend to stop here and see what this was all about.  I was very pleased.  I was there for about two hours and did not get to see everything but here are photos about the visual delights that I was able to see.  Many plants were expected, but there were a few surprises.

 A rocky background was in view from many spots.

 Many spring flowers were in bloom, with bees buzzing about.

 I saw a lot of very old trees with magnificent bark.

 This wash winds its way through the park.

 This is a VERY tall and VERY unusual tree.

 Cactus gardens from around the world.

 Beautiful flowers.

 And the usual suspects for spiny and mean looking defense pikes.

 Desert wildflowers were in abundance.

 More unusual bark.

 This is a root system, turned on its side.  We were able to look at it from "the dirt side".

 There was an old homestead area, complete with homes, windmills and trucks.

 An old tree complete with expressive bark and very tall branches.

Add this to your must-see list and give yourself plenty of time.  I saw picnic areas, but did not see a place to buy food that was bigger than a packaged sandwich.  Bring your own lunch and plan to spend a day.